Any drone weighing more than two sticks of butter needs to be registered, the FAA announced today. The registration is a new statutary requirement, and the FAA says all drones owned before December 21st, 2015 must be registered by February 16th, 2016, while all drones purchased after December 21st must be registered before their first flight outdoors. Drone pilots who fail to register could face up to $27,500 in civil penalties, with criminal penalties for failure to register including fines of up to $250,000 and/or up to three years of imprisonment.

Their rule follows the recommendations of a special task force selected to consider how registration might happen, and goes over the objections of model hobbyists, who claimed the 250 gram (or roughly half a pound) limit is too restrictive, including not just camera-carrying quadcopters but small and simple model airplanes too.